Seems that Israel’s moonshot project is a lot closer to reality. The SpaceIL organization, which is developing the Israeli spacecraft that will journey to the moon in 2015, has acquired the engine for the rocket that will propel Israel’s lunar lander into space.

China aims to launch its next unmanned lunar probe in 2017, with the key aim of collecting and bringing back lunar samples, an official said on Monday, after the country`s first probe landed successfully on the moon over the weekend.

President Barack Obama wants to end NASA`s moon program, turn over space transportation to commercial companies and jump-start technologies needed for future human exploration of Mars and other destinations.